GATA Registration, Pre-Qualification and an ICQ submission is required for all grant applicants. ICJIA will only review grant application from agencies which have submitted a State Fiscal Year 2018 (SFY18) ICQ through the GATA website.

ICJIA will only review grant application from agencies which are in compliance with the GATA requirements.

ICJIA anticipates the release of several competitive funding opportunities in 2017 and 2018. This memo outlines the timeline and the important steps potential applicants must take in order to be eligible for a competitive funding opportunity. ICJIA cannot provide more detail regarding upcoming funding opportunities as doing so may disqualify potential applicants from funding.

The Federal & State Grants Unit oversees federal and state assistance programs administered by the Authority. The unit is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring state and local programs. These tasks include planning, program development, technical assistance, coordination, and administration.

For more information about ICJIA administered grant programs, please call the Authority, 312-793-8550 or email cja.grantsunit@illinois.gov.

The following programs are currently managed by the Authority. For a complete list of all current and past grant programs, please see the grant archive.

Federal Programs

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program

Status: Current

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) was designed to streamline justice funding and grant administration. The program blended funding for Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance (also known as ADAA) and Local Law Enforcement Block Grant programs to provide agencies with the flexibility to prioritize and place justice funds where they are needed most.

JAG funds can be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and information systems for criminal justice for any one or more of the following purpose areas:

Law enforcement.

Prosecution and court programs.

Prevention and education programs.

Corrections and community corrections.

Drug treatment and enforcement.

Crime victim and witness initiatives.

Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program

Status: Current

The National Institute of Justice awards Kirk Bloodsworth
Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program grants to states trying to defray the costs
associated with post-conviction DNA testing of forcible rape, murder, and
non-negligent manslaughter cases in which actual innocence might be
demonstrated. Program funds may be used to review such post-conviction cases
and to locate and analyze biological evidence associated with these cases.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

National Instant Criminal Background Check System Reporting Improvement Program

Status: Current

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System
Reporting Improvement Program provides assistance to states to improve the
completeness, automation, and transmittal of records to state and federal
systems used to conduct background checks. Such records include criminal
history records, records of felony convictions, warrants, records of protective
orders, convictions for misdemeanors involving domestic violence and stalking,
records of mental health adjudications, and others that may disqualify an
individual from possessing or receiving a firearm under federal law. Helping
states to automate these records also reduces delays for law-abiding gun purchasers.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act

Status: Current

The Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement
Act authorizes funding to improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of
forensic science services for criminal justice purposes. Act funding is
directed to crime laboratories and medical examiners’ offices based on
population and crime statistics. The program permits funding for facilities,
personnel, computerization, equipment, supplies, education, and training.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Prison Rape Elimination Act

Status: Current

The Prison Rape Elimination Act was passed in 2003 to
provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in
federal, state, and local institutions and to provide information, resources,
recommendations, and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Project Safe Neighborhoods

Status: Current

Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to
reduce gun crime by networking existing local programs that target gun crime
and providing these programs with additional tools necessary to be successful.
This funding is used to hire new federal and state prosecutors, support
investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety kits, deter
juvenile gun crime, and develop and promote community outreach efforts as well
as to support other gun violence reduction strategies.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program

Status: Current

The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program provides
funding for treatment programs in a correctional setting and is available to
the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and Illinois Department of
Juvenile Justice. These funds are used to implement residential, jail-based,
and aftercare programs.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

Status: Current

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is Title
I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law
109-248). The Act provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex
offender registration and notification in the United States. The Act aims to
close potential gaps and loopholes that existed under prior law and generally
strengthens the nationwide network of sex offender registration and
notification programs. The program offers competitive awards administered to
states by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Victim Assistance Discretionary Grant Training (VADGT) Program

Status: Current

Under this award, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) made $25 million available to eligible state victim assistance programs to apply for noncompetitive funding to support training and technical assistance for victim assistance service providers and others who work with crime victims. Illinois was awarded $946,913 for federal fiscal year 2015.

The purpose of this program is to provide each state and territory with funding to support training and technical assistance for victim assistance grantees and others who work with crime victims. States are encouraged the use of the funds to enhance existing State Victim Assistance Academies (SVAAs) or to establish new ones. These funds can also support statewide training initiatives, crime victim related conferences, basic training for new programs for underserved victims, and scholarships to service providers and others who work with crime victims. As with all VOCA awards, states would have the year of the award plus three years to spend these funds.

Illinois has an extensive network of coalitions and statewide issue groups that are supported by strong legislation dedicated to victim rights and services. Yet, Illinois is a large, diverse state that still has many unmet needs in the victim services field. Local agencies throughout the state struggle to meet the training and staffing needs for their services. Issue specific training is available in some areas and increasingly required for some positions, but the availability of training that is affordable and the opportunity to hear state and national experts in many fields is often beyond the reach of local agencies.

Funding from this program will be used to expand training opportunities for victim service advocates throughout the state of Illinois.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Victims of Crime Act

Status: Current

The Victims of Crime Act is funded with fines paid by offenders convicted of violating federal laws, supports direct services to victims of crime. The Act requires that priority be given to services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and other groups identified by the state as underserved victims of crime.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Violence Against Women Act

Status: Current

Congress first passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 and reauthorized the Act in 2000. With a reauthorization in 2005, Congress began a new initiative of the S.T.O.P. (Services * Training * Officers * Prosecutors) VAWA program by authorizing grants to states for programs that would improve the response of the criminal justice system to female victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The program’s objectives include:

Providing services to women who are victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Developing, implementing, and evaluating a plan for training police, prosecutors, judges, circuit clerks, probation officers, and service providers to promote an interdisciplinary approach to sexual assault and domestic violence.

Implementing measures that document and assess the response of criminal justice agencies in Illinois to sexual assault and domestic violence.

The Act specifies that states must allocate 25 percent of the funds to law enforcement, 25 percent to prosecution, 30 percent to service providers, and 5 percent to the courts. The remaining 15 percent can be allocated at the state’s discretion.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Violence Against Women Act Arrest Program

Status: Current

The Violence Against Women Act Arrest Program provides
grants to encourage arrest policies and enforcement of protection orders
program. This discretionary grant program is designed to encourage state,
local, and tribal governments and state, local, and tribal courts to treat
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking as serious
violations of criminal law requiring the coordinated involvement of the entire
criminal justice system.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Violence Against Women Act Sexual Assault Services Program

Status: Current

The Violence Against Women Act Sexual Assault Services
Program supports the provision of hotline, advocacy, counseling, and outreach
services to adults and children at 33 local victim service agencies across
Illinois.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

State Programs

In response to declining state resources and expanding
criminal justice research about best practices in corrections, Illinois passed
the Crime Reduction Act of 2009. The Adult Redeploy Illinois (ARI) program was
created by the Act to increase alternatives to incarceration for non-violent
offenders. Research shows that non-violent offenders are more effectively rehabilitated
in community settings, which are also less expensive than prison. ARI provides
grants to local jurisdictions to expand their capacity to safely supervise
non-violent offenders in the community by investing in evidence-based practices
shown to reduce recidivism. In exchange for grant funding, sites agree to
reduce by 25 percent the number of non-violent offenders they send to the
Illinois Department of Corrections from their target populations.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Ceasefire

Status: Current

The mission of Ceasefire Illinois, a unit at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, is to work with community and government partners to reduce violence in all forms and help design interventions required to better define what should be included in a community or city anti-violence plan. Growing up in communities where violence is an everyday occurrence, youth learn that violence is normal and are thus more likely to use violence or become victims of violence. Ceasefire staff members work to engage this population. Staff members will help change their behavior and connect them to resources that would otherwise be out of reach.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention (CBVIP) services programs support the following activities:

Convene or expand an existing community coalition to engage service providers, governmental agencies (local and/or statewide agencies), law enforcement, faith-based, and general community members to ensure that service providers and all potential participants are aware of violence prevention resources available in community; develop collaborative partnerships to ensure that clients’ immediate needs are met; and provide pro-social activities for the community.

Educate the public about program services through wide distribution and various types of program materials, public presentations and awareness events.

Provide at least one of the four following direct services:

Street Intervention/Interruption-Active Outreach and Engagement – These programs provide crisis intervention and de-escalation of high stress situations to at-risk youth and young adults.

Counseling and Therapy – These developmentally and culturally appropriate therapeutic services are provided by a mental health professional.

Youth Development – Engaging young people to develop their emotional, physical, social, and intellectual selves provides opportunities for youth to practice conflict resolution and prosocial life skills.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

Family Violence Coordinating Councils, at both state and
local/circuit levels, establish a forum to improve the institutional,
professional, and community response to family violence, including intimate
partner abuse, child abuse, abuse against people with disabilities, and elder
abuse. The councils engage in education and prevention as well as coordination
of intervention and services for victims and perpetrators. They work to improve
the administration of justice when addressing family violence.

Program allocations by fiscal year:

The Illinois State Crime Stoppers Association is a broad-based crime fighting and crime prevention group that develops and facilitates Crime Stoppers programs throughout Illinois.

Safe From the Start

Status: Current

The Safe from the Start Program was initiated to address childhood exposure to violence. The program implements and evaluates comprehensive and coordinated community models to identify and respond children ages 0 to 5 who have been exposed to violence in the home or community. Program components include coalition and collaboration building, direct services, and public awareness.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Authority administers a variety of federal and state grant programs. View programs to see if your organization meets the eligibility requirements of an Authority-administered program. Then visit grant opportunities to see if we are accepting grant applications for the program.

When you see a grant opportunity listed on the Authority website, check to make sure your agency meets the program’s specific criteria for grant funding. If your agency is eligible for funding, read the instructions for information on how to submit an application.

Stacey Woods

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) is committed to prohibiting discrimination in the grant-funded workplace and in the delivery of services by ICJIA grantees. ICJIA does not discriminate based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service.

File an Employment / Grant Funded Service Discrimination Complaint

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) is committed to prohibiting
discrimination in the grant-funded workplace and in the delivery of services by ICJIA grantees.
ICJIA grantees have a legal and contractual obligation to provide employment and services,
funded by ICJIA grants, in a discrimination-free manner. Accordingly, this document establishes
the written policy and procedure for ICJIA employees to follow when they receive a complaint
of discrimination from grantee employees and grantee clients, customers, and program
participants.

S.T.O.P. Violence Against Women
In Illinois
A Multi-Year Plan: FFY14-16

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), authorized by Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and subsequently reauthorized as the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 and 2013, provides financial assistance to states for developing and strengthening effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies and victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women. To be eligible, states must develop a plan in accordance with requirements set out in the Act. The Act specifies that states must allocate at least 25 percent of the VAWA funds it receives to law enforcement, 25 percent to prosecution, 30 percent to nonprofit, non-governmental victim services, and at least 5 percent to courts. The remaining 15 percent may be allocated at the state’s discretion within the parameters of the Act. Funds may not be used to replace dollars already committed to a service or program.